Gaurdian Fighter
Description The Guardian Fighter is courageous and stalwart, superior at defensive maneuvers, and no stranger to hand-to-hand combat. Heavy plate armor and a shield make the Guardian Fighter a durable mainstay on the battlefield, while a trusty longsword and focused aggression cut through foes that stand in the way. Some fighters choose to rely on large imposing weapons, others prefer dirty tricks. You believe that fighting better means fighting smarter. You traded in large cumbersome heavy weapons for superior defenses and the ability to control the battlefield around you. The Guardian Fighter is the undeniable leader of a Neverwinter dungeon party. Always willing to selflessly sacrifice his or her body for the safety of their party, they are first to charge into combat and draw enemies’ attention. Giving the rest of the party time to react. General Role You fight with sword, and board. Equipping a long sword in one hand and shield in the other, allowing you to be able to best defend your allies on the field of battle. You can use your shield to block incoming attacks, or slam your enemies, weakening them. Your long sword can be used to cleave through swathes of enemies, ensuring that their attention is kept on you, and not your allies. While your shield may be used to temporarily weaken foes who threaten you, or your allies. Main Attributes CON: This is your primary stat and as such need to be high. Recommended: 16-18 before racials. STR: This is one of your secondary stats. Gives you more HPs. Recommended: 12-16 before racials. DEX: '''This is a decent stat as it improves your initiative and gives you better reflexes. Recommended: 10-16 Before racials. '''WIS: Improves your Shield Defense recharge and makes your Aggro accumalation even better. Some Paragon Path choices can improve the value of wis even more. Recommended: 12-16 before racials. Reccomended Races Below are the recommended race choices for those wishing to try out guardian fighters. 'Halfling ' They are small and as such, not normally suited to stand up to an angry orc or ogre.However they got some class features that is good for a class focused on defending and a bonus to dex. Stat Bonuses: +2 Dexterity & +2 Charisma or +2 Constitution Bold: Your fearless nature increases your resistance to Crowd Control effects by 10%. Nimble Reaction: Your small stature and quick movements grant 3% chance to Deflect incoming attacks. 'Human' There is no class a human can't excel in. As a fighter you can be quite versatile and an extra at-will gives you better utility for different situations. Better defenses is big bonus. However the lack of a secondary stat hurts a little. Stat Bonuses: +2 to Any Ability Score Heroic Effort: You gain an additional Heroic Feat point at levels 10, 15 and 20. Versatile Defense: Increase your Defense by 3%. 'Dwarf' This race has stats that will always be important for fighters. However what makes this race great as a gaurdian fighter is amazing racial traits that yells out defender. An excellent choice for the more defensive orientated fighter. Stat Bonuses: +2 Constitution & +2 Strength or +2 Wisdom. Cast-Iron Stomach: You have increased damage resistance to Damage Over Time(DoT) effects. Stand Your Ground: You have increased resistance to Knock and Repel effects. Class Abilities Abilities such as Lunging Strike can be used to charge your enemy, closing the distance between you; and Enforced Threat can be used to ensure that your quarry attacks only you, allowing your fellows to move freely through the battle field. Even stronger powers, such as Fighter’s Recovery, can be used in moments of duress to help you stay alive, and continue to protect your allies when the battle turns grim.'' Check the guardian sklill tree here!'' Guardian Fighter Tutorial As a primary melee tank class, the Guardian Fighter believes that the best offense is a good defense. 'Blocking' The Guard skill is initially mapped to the Shift key, allowing the character to move around and block most incoming damage with his raised shield. Movement while blocking is ALOT slower than usual, but the trade-off is that actively blocking enemy attacks mitigates all of the damage depending on your shield meter. Blocking requires Stamina, and Stamina is sapped by each successful block. The Stamina meter is the blue meter bar to the left of the character, with each block the damage lowers this meter until finally it dissipates entirely. When this happens the meter turns from blue to red. If the meter does turn red, the character is unable to block until the shield meter is completely refilled. This is clearly less than ideal for a defense-based class, so the Guardian Fighter will need to strike a balance between constant, impenetrable defense and keeping his Stamina bar from totally depleting. To refill the shield meter one must use certain skills that increse it which normally come in the form of attacks. However blocking is not your only option, stay mobile and watch for enemy attacks as some you can move away from. 'Threat Generation' Threat generation is the most important aspect of playing the Gaurdian Fighter. Every attack the Guardian Fighter makes generates a small amount of threat, but some attacks are better than others. In particular, area-effect Encounter and Daily attacks generate very large amounts of threat, but even Tide of Iron/Shield Swipe generate a fairly high amount. Additionally, there are a few Encounter skills that taunt enemies for forced attacks. For instance Enforced Threat, for example, deals area damage and taunts all enemies within range, forcing them to attack the Guardian Fighter for the duration of the effect, you will find this is one of the most used skills in your arsenal. Another useful skill is the Mark ability, mapped to the Tab key, which paints a big red X on the target. The marked creature suffers a mitigation debuff when attacking anyone but the Guardian Fighter who marked it. It's not quite the same thing as generating threat, but it's definitely a useful tanking skill. In Character Brandis stood in the doorway and waited. A slow breath did nothing to calm his pounding heart, and he emptied his lungs with a whispered prayer to the Raven Queen: "Not today, Dark Lady. Please" He listened to the pounding of the demon's hooves drawing near and to the frantic rhythm of his companions' feet as they fled behind him. If he could buy them a little time, maybe they could get to safety. Maybe Verna Wouldn't die. The demon rounded the corner and bellowed in triumph. Its roar assaulted his ear, shook the stone beneath his feet, and blasted at his face, but Brandis held his ground. Lowering its head, the demon charged. With a roar of his own, Brandis ran to meet the onrushing demon. He let his fury and his despair carry him forward like a crashing wave of steel. He threw himself down under the demon's curving horn, then with all his strength brought his blade over his head to slash across its neck. Acrid blood sprayed over him, but the demon didn't fall. Howling, it swatted at Brandis with a massive fist, sending him staggering backward. "At least I know I got your attention," Brandis muttered, gripping his sword more tightly. He couldn't hear his friends anymore, just the pounding of blood in his ears. Power Page 22, Last Stand Category:Gaurdian Fighter